[Dancingwilldoit]

That just about sums it up. The players just couldn't put the effort in, like me writing this. It really was total lack of effort. Fulton really does gives me the jitters - he is so static at times. It could have been 6 or 7.
To be fair we started brightly and should have had a pen for blatant handball early on but by then they had already hit the crossbar.
After the first went in we just went to pieces. Its easier to say who had a decent game - Liddle and that's it.
The ref was shocking but no excuses. If Danny Wilson had been ref we would have lost.

Don't know if we will put our first team out against Wolves U21 on Tues but we should do as punishment.

Just to add Mitchell came on for last 20 mins or so and put everybody else to shame.

[bluepooch]

Too many 5/10 performances for me .Its worrying that we have two centre halves who are so lacking in pace that we cannot cope with teams who counter attack us or have a bit of pace because that's what basically happened with their goals .
I'm also worried that the older players aren't capable of carrying the younger ones when they have off days like yesterday.
Fulton ,Mcginn, Donohue and Nolan were all poor and Like Dancing says the only one to come out with any credit was Mitchell.
I wont be attending Tuesday on principle. I hope all the games are so poorly attended that those idiots at the FA who are making the decisions are made to pay with their jobs, although I doubt it .

[Devongone]

Wolves might have some interesting youngsters you know Pooch ....... Sounds a bit like a good man cutting off his nose to spite people who don't give a fig for him. Your team is playing even if a herd of donkeys has arranged the whole show! (Do donkeys have herds?)

I think you are right, Sam Hird is terminally slow, which makes him an either/or with Ian Evatt. Unless the opposition features Jon Parkin our current combination will lose out whenever there's space available for the opposition forwards. And as I keep saying problems at centre back are magnified with a young inexperienced keeper. Tommy Lee is a keeper who loves hero-time and he gets plenty of limelight with the defences we provide. For a young lad, replacing him is a sink-or-swim situation. The centre of our defence is used to being hauled out of the shit by Tommy (which I suppose is why we played him even when he was injured), and they expect the same from Fulton. If he can't deliver it might ruin him. (Look where he came from, a club so dissatisfied with its first choice it has a replacement on the injured list ....... and its own former second choice wasn't even considered for the job, so how highly does that rate young Fulton?)

It came as no surprise to me to see that at 0-3 the two potential non-triers in our side both had to be substituted. When Gardner and O'Shea go AWOL our attacking potential is at best halved. It's Ariyibi and Evans versus the opposition back four and defensive midfielders. IMO that with O'Shea and Gardner in tandem we are bound to have a lot of performances like Saturday's. Occasionally they'll be very good, but they are a huge risk.

Whenever I played I always found that whatever the level if several of your players weren't doing it ..... the rest were dragged down. I'm hoping that is the case with Nolan, McGinn and Donohue. Certainly playing full back when you are worried about the pace of your own centre backs and two of the midfielders you're looking for when breaking forward aren't looking for you ......... is a direct route to failure. And Nolan ..... he had worries behind him and in front of him ....... how was that going to end up with a good performance?

I don't think the Wolves game should be a punishment. It has to be a rehearsal. It's the ideal time to try Allinson in goal. Back four has one change, Raglan comes in for either Evatt or Hird. Mitchell replaces Gardner. Dennis replaces Ched Evans, because we can't only win when Ched plays great ....... or else we'll lose out when he's in court and after Christmas when we've sold him.

[Dancingwilldoit]

Blue your being very generous with 5/10's Not 1 of the back 4 deserved that or keeper either.
Dev Hird cant play on the left so you automatically say Evatt and Raglan which hasn't looked good. Not sure what our youngsters are like but they deserve a chance against Wolves. Like Blue I wont be going. The whole thing has ended up being a shambles and £11 for an U21's game is a rip off.
I think Wilson is aware that Hird and Evatt aren't the quickest and its been noticeable that both Donoghue and McGinn pull in behind them both to try and give cover, problem is it leaves the wings open. Gardner and Gbolly don't cover at all well and yesterday we were just pulled all over the place. Fulton had a shocker and he seems to get worse each time I see him play. Hope its not down to our Keeper coaching because when Tommy returns he needs somebody like Big Norm to push him and give him confidence. When Nixon was here Tommy lost his way. Yesterday a number of times Fulton had the ball and could have released it early to Gbolly who was calling for it, instead he waited and waited then gave it the big boot into an area of the pitch where there wasn't a single blue shirt - just plain basics, look where your players are ffs. Next week will be interesting.

[bluepooch]

To be fair the football in general is attractive .not just passing from side to side but probing .i just think we came up against a stronger team physically yesterday. im worried that we have a central defender as assistant manager yet we are all over the place defensively lately.

[Devongone]

I always had problems with left and right so perhaps that is why I always favour reversing the usual logic. I positively like the left central defender to be right footed. The goal and thus the danger is inside him and thus on his stronger foot. If I had to see my centre back or full back beaten by an opponent I was always happier if it was on the outside. The only thing that would stop Hird playing successfully with Raglan is inside his head.

Dancing's observation about the full backs covering in behind is exactly what full backs are coached to do. It's right, but if they have to over-commit in the centre they can't be in two places at once. Okay a midfielder or winger should help them out, but if they're permanently doing that how does the team get forward?

I'm not sure about keeper coaches. When they first appeared I expected them to revolutionise goalkeeping - they've taken us back from having some of the best keepers in the world to many of the worst. Tommy should need no more than occasional advice at this late stage in his career. When he played behind a defence that was functioning moderately well he was fine, but no keeper can constantly get it right behind a defence that sells him short. Last season he saved their bacon often enough for everyone to overlook his errors ..... otherwise why was he on the field at Bradford?

Matt Duke was a moderate keeper. He might be a brilliant coach. Great coaches weren't always excellent players .....

What Dancing says about Fulton's distribution is very astute because that is often a sign that a keeper is mentally not with it. There's too much running through his head to react quickly when somebody shouts for the ball. You can be thinking about the cross you dropped, a piece of mishandling, worrying whether you are up to this level, thinking about the bollocking the captain gave you, remembering what the manager said ........ In goal there's time to focus and get everything right, but that same amount of time can jumble your thoughts into disorder. You can convince yourself you are crap ..... and that cross, shall I go, shall I stay, what if I drop it, should I punch? Oh shit 0-3. IT IS HARD FOR THE LAD! When a mentally strong keeper like Joe Hart can turn himself into the jibbering wreck of the Euros, it shows you how hard it can be. It doesn't surprise me Fulton is seeking the solace of the aimless hoof. Every keeper will know how he is feeling.